~The Dancing Deuterosminthurus pallipes~

I was really pleased to finally witness one of the wonders of the macro world, this is my first capture of the Deuterosminthurus pallipes courtship dance, these little guys were on top of my favourite white bench at Wollaton Park (The only white bench as well).

On the left is a female and she is courting with a smaller male on the right, also there is another male trying to butt in on the action. It really was a mad scene to watch, they were everywhere, there were yellow ones, purple ones and these reddish ones, I have included an extra image in the comments, but I have loads, really tricky to photograph these, a DOF nightmare, they are fast and the top of the bench is curved, also I always hate photographing stuff on a gloss white background. I think I will try some video footage next time, I will set up a tripod over the bench and see if I can get any decent footage, it is great to watch.

 

Sorry not been on Flickr much, still a poor internet connection and this heat is getting a bit much :o)

 

Taken with the MP-E at x5, the female was just under 1mm at a guess.

 

VIEW ON BLACK

Done